Lifestyles

Easter and the circle of life

By BECKY NELSON
Bramblings
I have been reminded this week about how tenuous life can be. For me, this is Holy Week. I celebrate the life, brutal death and resurrection of Jesus in my faith, and it always brings to mind the fragile nature of life as we know it on our vulnerable but beautiful earth and brings to mind renewal and rebirth. Surrounded by swelling buds and flowers charging through the thatch, peeper frogs singing in the vernal pools and ponds, and turkeys strutting and showing off in mating dances. I am reminded daily of life, death and renewal.

The routine stresses and pressures of business and farming had already taken their toll on me earlier this week when I found my tomato seedlings in distress. A very warm day, too warm for the covers had surprised us and the tomatoes had been neglected. The covers that should have been removed in the heat acted like a steamer, and the fragile little plants had succumbed to the abuse and died. Some had survived, with a tiny new leaf showing at the top of the spindly little stalks, but most looked like pieces of dried and desiccated grass atop the soil.

Neglect and the distractions of an unusually hot day had taken the life of the little plants. The effects for me are tough to take. My planting of a group of tomatoes is now set back about a month as I must order, receive and replant seed, hoping for better success in raising the little plants. I am thankful for the plants that have overcome the heat and resurrected, sending out new leaves, but the mistake is one that will be felt by the farm well into growing and harvest seasons. It would be easy to point fingers, blame others or myself and wallow in the loss, but blaming, shaming and wallowing solve nothing. Best to go forward, making changes I can make, replacing plants and vowing to do better.

My tomato plants seem like a small thing when the news is full of people taking other people’s fragile existence from them, with murders and violent crimes hitting the airwaves at every turn and accidents and mistakes that end in disaster are reported frequently. Natural disasters, recreational disasters, accidents with boats, trains, planes and automobiles are reported all the time, and if you are at all like me, you think of these things as your loved ones travel or each time you get into a vehicle yourself. Life is fragile. 

I ask that you think of the family and friends of all people who have lost loved ones today as you may be preparing for Easter. In my faith, there is life beyond, and I pray for those that have loved ones lost that they will reunite and love once again. For those that have suffered violent crime against them and still live, I pray for their comfort and healing. 

As a loved one once said to me, live every day as if it will be your last. You never know when you step off a curb or plant your feet on the floor when you get out of bed what the day might hold … and it might be your last chance to see the sunrise, enjoy the daffodils or lilacs or feel the touch of a mother, husband or child. Live life like today might be your last. Don’t let the setbacks get to you. Look forward to the next moment, and let tomorrow take care of itself. Do what you can to prepare for tomorrow, but don’t let your mistakes or stumbles of yesterday overtake your enjoyment of any good moment today be overshadowed by water under the bridge, mistakes of the past and stumbles of a moment ago.

Be kind to others, forgive others, enjoy the moment, vow to do better, share a smile or a chuckle and try to live life to the fullest. I will plant my replacement seed with a look toward renewal and rebirth and not kick myself for mistakes and decisions made or not made. Happy Easter.

 

Becky Nelson is co-owner of Beaver Pond Farm in Newport: [email protected].

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